The Mystery Of The Lake
by evanescencerose
Summary: It's Harry's final year at hogwarts, but something in the lake is being kept from the students. New romances, troubles, and characters are introduced. Will Harry figure everything out before its too late? Like 6th book never happened!
1. Going Back

The Mystery of the Lake

The sun was setting at the Burrow and its last rays of light shown through the kitchen window that Harry was looking through. Although it had been weeks since he had moved to the Weasley's house for the summer to escape from the Dursleys, Harry still enjoyed staring out in to the vast farmland and thinking about what he was finally leaving behind.

For once he finished his last year of Hogwarts, he was gone for good; off to fight Voldemort in the final battle of truth and justice, with his friend's right beside him, willing to help in any way possible. Once the sun had dropped its last light beneath the ground with the sincere promise of returning the next morning, Harry grudgingly pulled himself up from his position, stretched, and started to head up the long flights of stairs to where he and Ron were bunking.

At the door, he put an ear to it, knocked, and when no reply came, he knew it was safe. Last time he had gone in without doing any one of that, and had ended up walking in to the middle of a vortex that Ron hade made on accident. It was later explained (once Harry returned from the 17th century) that all Ron was trying to do was summon some lime flavored desserts from the kitchen, but mistook the words "appear" with "disappear" and "lime" with "time". This time he opened the door to find the room in its usual mess; scattered books and bits of parchment were on every inch of the floor, the owl cages had yet to be cleaned out, and just about everything Harry and Ron owned was misplaced somewhere. The only sign that life could even inhabit the room was two rather large stacks of freshly done laundry folded nicely and ready to be packed away before leaving for school.

Harry stepped over the ground (or what was left of it) and on to a large pile of blankets that didn't seem to quite make it to the laundry room. Suddenly a loud yelp came from beneath the bundle and a familiar red-headed face poked out from under its folds. "Blood hell, Harry," Ron grumbled as he shook off the many layers of fabric and stood up. "I can't even sleep without you being a pain in the…" and he left the sentence there, for his mother had just come in, holding letters with the two's names on it and sealed with the Hogwarts stamp.

"Your letters are here," said Mrs. Weasley as she handed them to Ron and Harry. "And you should get dressed; we will be leaving to go to Diagon Ally to get your school supplies in about fifteen minutes." And with that she bustled out of the room, leaving them to read over their list and giving Hermione some time to replace where she was standing at the doorway.

After a couple of seconds, the two boys looked up from their lists to see her there with a very happy smile across her lips. "Let me guess, you are our new Head Girl?" asked Ron with an I-already-know look on his face. She seemed taken aback by this statement. "Well, yes. Aren't you Head Boy?" Ron looked back down on his letter and read through it a few more times. Turning it around in his hands to see if he missed something, Ron looked back at her. "Nope. Guess not, wonder who is then…" "Oh well, it doesn't matter. I mean, I guess not. It's probably someone else we know. Anyways, the reason I came was to see what books you need, because I think some of mine our off. I'm taking ancient runes but my booklist says…"

"Hermione, will you shut up for a second. We just found our new Head Boy. Congrats, Harry!" exclaimed Ron, though it was obvious he was hiding his grief, naturally he thought if he was picked as a prefect, he would become Head Boy. "This is great. With you two being the head people of the school, you can make it so Malfoy gets detention forever! Sounds like fun, just make sure I'm there when you do it, eh Harry?"

Harry awoke from a daze, which had nothing to do with the news. "Oh, um, yeah. Sounds like fun." He faked a smile, but it was hard.

For some reason during his reading he saw something that wasn't on the parchment. It was shinning, blue, and constantly in motion; almost as if it were hypnotizing him, drawing him closer, closer to a certain death. "Harry!" This snapped him back once again, though he couldn't blame it on anything for the Ron and Hermione were staring at him as if he just said he was going to live underground with the sewer rats.

"Wu-what?" he asked, trying to regain focus. "I, I'm just a little tired. You know, tomorrow we go back to school, just not ready for it yet," once again faking the plastic grin. "C'mon, we're supposed to be getting ready to go," and with that he walked down the stair leaving his best friends still in the room, too confused to move.


	2. A New Face in the Crowd

The engines fired up, and as the last of the slowest students boarded the train while saying good-bye to their parents, Harry wondered aimlessly around, searching for the empty compartment. With a lurch, the train began and threw Harry on to his back; meanwhile his suitcase and Hedwig's cage were thrown from his grasp.

He was lost, there was no ignoring this fact, and he had no idea where to find the compartment in which he and Hermione would get their first orders as Head Boy and Girl. During the fall, his jacket had been thrown over his head, leaving him in temporary blindness and confusion. Before he could pull it off, a snide, curdling remark came from somewhere right above his head.

"Well, well, well. Look what we've got here boys. Poor wittle Potter can't find his way. Let's help him, shall we?" and with that, two extraordinarily large arms lifted Harry off the ground and a punch greeted his face, tossing his jacket aside.

In front of him stood Malfoy with a new Slytherin girl clutching his arm and examining his muscles as he flexed them for her. Crabbe and Goyle were, naturally, holding Harry up, but with shear fat, not strength. Malfoy walked up to where Harry was, dangling in the air, and spit on his face which mixed in with the blood that was steadily making its way down his cheek from a cut above his eye. "So here we are Potter, no where to turn for help from your little friends. I know, how bout a duel?" she smiled, obviously enjoying that Harry was helpless.

"You just the way you are, and I get a head start, deal?" he reached in to his pocket and pulled out a wand, pointing it at Harry's chest.

"One," he raised the wand to his face.

"Two," shoved it right against his scar.

But before he could say three, a flash of light followed by smoke surrounded the area, and the four Slytherins were on the ground, momentarily unconscious. A hand reached out and clutched Harry's arm, dragging him away from the scene where soon fellow student's heads' would be poking out from their own room to see what happened.

Oncehe were out of range, the smoke cleared away and he saw that it was Hermione who had grabbed him, apparently finding him after she realized he wasn't in the compartment. "Oh for crying out loud, Harry; you're Head Boy now! You can't just go walking around trying to get Malfoy in trouble. I mean I know what Ron said was funny and all, but I didn't think you would take it so seriously. I mean really! We have duties, responsibilities…" nonetheless as Hermione droned on about their duties as Head boy and Girl, an image floated in to Harry's mind.

The same one he had seen at the Weasley's house; sparkling blue movement. It seemed so beautiful, yet somehow Harry knew it was dangerous as well; a trap almost, but he knew he had to enter. His chain of thought was broken when they reached the door and Hermione, who must have realized he wasn't paying attention, snapped at him, "Well fine! I would expect more from you to at least pay attention now!" After muttering an apology about dozing off, he tried to get the sight back in to his mind as Hermione healed his cut, yet for some reason he couldn't.

Instead, he followed Hermione in to the room where it seemed quite empty. Harry at first wasn't sure if they were meant to be here. The letter never said anything about getting to a certain spot on the train, and yet Hermione insisted that they should.

Still, without bothering to ask her how she knew this, Harry simply followed her, more mesmerized into the vision he kept having than some Head Boy thing. The two sat down across from each other, looking around the room in great interest. It was not like the other areas, instead there were pictures lining the walls of previous Head Boys and Girls, a fine carpet covered the floor, and a fresh, rich bowl of fruit was placed at each edge of the bench which was now looking a lot like a small sofa.

Hearing Hermione gasp in awe, he turned around to point out the fruit but instead found himself facing a very familiar face. "Um, he-hello, Professor Flitwick," he stammered as he was still in shock of the teacher right next to him so quickly. "Hello there Harry, Hermione. I hope your summers were quite well," two nods were the response. "Well then, let's get started. As you know, you are now the chosen Head Boy and Girl of Hogwarts…"

The minutes went on like a never-ending video on the history of Earth and everything on it.After about 2 hours of explaining what was needed to be done, the Professor finally let them go off to find Ron and the others in a compartment near the very back of the train.

During the walk down, Harry glanced sideways in to a room from which he turned around quickly and started walking far away. Hermione caught up, and when after trying to ask what happened, he just mentioned something about forgotten homework he should finish before they reach Hogwarts. In reality, Harry had walked by so fast so that he wouldn't be seen by the people in there; Cho snogging up to some 7th year whom Harry couldn't see his face. Even though it had been so long ago, he didn't want her to see him there and think he still liked her, that would have been awful.

After a ways walk in which the usual first years strained to get a glimpse of his scar as he passed (though he had no idea how they knew he'd be coming. Maybe they should all join Professor Trelawney's class?), they found a compartment which held the usual: Ron, Neville, Luna, and a new face that Harry had never seen before. Actually, he couldn't exactly see the face, for it was hidden behind a book entitled "So you wish you were a wizard".

By the look of the cover, it wasn't an actual wizard book, but one of those fake ones muggle children buy in the stores to keep them occupied. Ron and Neville were in a heated argument about Quidditch. Ron was getting red in the ears, so he knew it had something to do with the Chudley Cannons, perhaps they were having an off season.

Sure enough, as they sat down, Ron turned to Harry and asked "Please tell Neville it isn't true that Krum was traded into the Cannons? For some reason he has this bizarre idea-"

"For the last time, its true! My gran told me, and she wouldn't lie about anything!" exclaimed Neville with a desperate look on his face, as if he had to win the argument.

"I'm sorry to tell you this Neville, but I'm afraid that Krum is still with Bulgaria. It was a different person traded. I'm not saying your grandma is a liar, but she may have heard incorrectly." Harry, who was still looking at Ron, didn't recognize the voice, and turned to see that the unknown visitor had lowered her book in order to talk.

She had long black hair that went down to her waist, and it mixed perfectly with her grey eyes and light colored lips. Another odd part about her was a small tattoo she had on the back of her left hand, a weird sort of sideways E shaped symbol he had never seen before. Still, she was quite pretty and Harry couldn't help but stare.

"My name's Deliverance. I transferred here from a different school this year." She said, holding out her hand to shake theirs. Harry was still wondering if the grey eyes were natural when she took his hand. Suddenly, a feeling swept over him and once again the view of the blue came back, though this time it was surrounded by green trees and rocks on a hill. Brought back from releasing her grip, he couldn't help but think why he got so much more from touching her hand, the one with the tattoo, then he had ever been able to get before.

The rest of the trip passed without much going on. The friends learned more about Deliverance ("Or just yell 'save me' and I'll come"), about her recent past, where she had gone to school, and why she had transferred. It was odd, though, that she kept trying to stay away from the subjects that included childhood and the strange tattoo.

She also explained that, before she boarded the train, she was sorted and put in to Gryffindor along with the others. Once again, another subject they stayed away from was how she was sorted when she wasn't even at Hogwarts which held the sorting hat.

Soon the trolley cart came, carrying its usual assortment of treats and candies. After everyone got something, it turned in to a tournament of Exploding Snap, with Bertie Bot's beans as the betting chips. After a few hours, the sun disappeared behind the mountains, giving them a clue to change in to their robes, for they were arriving at Hogwarts shortly.

Deliverance, who had never before seen the castle or even knew what to do when the train stopped, simply went after the others, meanwhile they were showering her with tips on how to stay alive.

"Watch out for a certain step on the stairs, you'll sink right through," "There's this thing called Peeves, watch out for him, he's trouble," "Try not to fall asleep doing homework in the common room, who knows what pranks will be played on you," "You're the new kid, so just try and blend in, and people won't treat you differently,".

The train lurched to a stop, sending those who didn't have a good enough grip on something flying to the ground. As everyone was getting off, four figures were being dragged away by one of the teachers, each one of the figures with nasty looking purple goose eggs attached to their faces. "Nice work, Hermione," Harry whispered as they got in to a carriage to start the tread up to the castle, making her blush.


	3. The Feast

((sorry for the confusion, but this is the real chapter 3. The other one was chapter 4. If you read chapter 4 thinking it was chpater 3 and are now mad at me because of it, I just have two words for you. No, it's not "I'm Sorry". Cheers!))

Ch. 3

The tables were overcrowded with students, each trying to find a place to sit next to their friends, or others just trying to find a place to sit at all.

As soon as everyone was calmed, Professor Dumbledore stood up and opened his arms, the usual greeting before the feast and the sign to be quiet.

"Welcome, new and old, to Hogwarts. Now that the sorting is complete, we will just have a few reminders before we are able to fill our stomachs. To all first years, you will get your schedules in your common room, a slight change from the previous years. And to all, the forest and the lake are out of bounds. Enjoy!"

And with the last word, food of all types filled the plates as the teachers and pupils reached forward to do exactly what he had said. A little ways into the desserts, Hermione stopped her fork when it was about halfway to her mouth.

"Wmu ith eh?" asked Ron, for he had just taken a bite out of his steak-and-kidney pudding and struggled to get it down. "You seem a little distracted," he said, finally managing to swallow all of it.

"Oh nothing, I was just wondering why the lake is out of bounds, is all. It never has been before," she answered, still looking confused.

"Maybe the giant squid blew chunks everywhere, and they're trying to clean it all up?" suggested Ron only half-jokingly.

"I'm not kidding, Ron! There must be something really wrong or dangerous to not let anyone go in there."

"I know! The merpeople found out that that Cannons got a new player, were outraged like any fan would be, and now if you go down there they'll kill you due to 'involentarinisticallivisionary'… rage," which was Ron's way of trying to sound smart like Hermione by using big words.

"Or the merpeople got sick after eating the squid's chunks so they threw up too."

Deliverance, who was sitting across the table, laughed in to her pie and kept her head down for a few seconds to pull herself back together as he simply shrugged and continued to devour his pudding, ignoring the scathing looks he was receiving from Hermione.

"No, it's something more, something the teachers obviously don't want us finding out about."

"Well you know the teachers," said Harry, raising his glass, "They are always keeping something from us, eh?" he smiled and drank the remains of his pumpkin juice like a shot glass, and finished by setting it on the table with a satisfying "Ahhhhh" as he leaned back in his chair, full from the night's feast.

Although Harry made it seem like he didn't care what the teachers were up to, something bothered him in the back of his mind. But it was probably nothing, something he ate didn't agree with his stomach, he though, and forgot about it.

Through the rest of desserts, Hermione kept her head bowed and her brow creased in thought with the occasional mutter of "No...no, could they?" or "Unless, but that would take years…"

Finally, Dumbledore stood up and, as the lasts of the food disappeared from the tables, bade them all good-night.

The group of four stayed behind as any experienced student (or new student with experienced friends) would do to stay away from the huge clot that usually formed at the door made of first, second, and third years trying to get to their dormitories first.

As they stood up and started off, all heading to the Gryffindor dormitory, Hermione finally spoke to them, not herself, "What if there's something down there, something they don't want us to find or see? Like the sorcerer's stone?"

"I still say its squid chunks," whispered Ron as they gave the Fat Lady the password and stepped in to the long-awaited common room.


	4. Classes

Ch. 4

"Ternadiso Nahe-vihou" said Ron and Harry simultaneously, both trying to turn a chicken into an egg with their wands, cook it and scramble it.

Hermione had finished 10 minutes ago, Deliverance 5, and the two girls were now enjoying their eggs with some cheese Hermione conjured out of midair for them as they sat in Charms class.

Watching the boys wrestling with how to make breakfast was fun, but soon their attention wavered and they started talking about the usual: boys, classes, people they didn't like, and wondering if they should give the guys a hint or keep watching them struggle.

Soon the bell rang, and the four picked up their bags. Ron was still trying to get egg whites out of his hair after he blew his up, earning him half credit for the day and many colorful words from the teacher once he noticed the giant hole in the wall behind them.

"I can't believe that bloke Flitwick gave me half credit!" grumbled Ron angrily. "At least I did something with my egg, unlike Harry who just poked his wand at it when the teacher came around."

"I'm sure he wouldn't have taken off so many points if you didn't call his a 'bloody moron whose brains you'd have liked to blow up instead of the egg'." replied Deliverance who brushed some egg off Ron's shoulder he had missed.

"Yeah, well…" and Ron shot a menacing look at some nearby second years, making them flee in panic.

Unfortunately, Ron's bad mood lasted all the way through their next two classes and all the way till lunch where he seemed to be more interested in the new variety of puddings they had then the teacher.

After, the four walked out under their favorite tree in the grounds, enjoying their free period. For once, Hermione wasn't fretting about not using the time to do homework instead.

This was noticed by Harry who asked her what was wrong, getting an under-the-breath reply from Ron "Everything about her," She was looking out at the lake where the teachers had put a line around the entire body, probably the same one used in the fourth year for the goblet of fire, but setting the age restriction much higher.

Just wondering," came her half caring reply, as if once again she was lost within her thoughts.

Deliverance and Ron were already sitting under the shade of the giant oak, Deliverance trying to teach Ron what "thumb wars" were and why you played them.

Harry tried to look at the lake and care as much as Hermione did, but it just wasn't possible.

Dumbledore always knew what was best, so this time he did too. And if had anything to do with Voldemort, he'd tell Harry, right? Well, actually now Harry wasn't quite sure.

Throughout the entire summer, he only received one letter from his headmaster, telling him to stay at the Dursley's until he could go with Ron; not news Harry didn't already know from previous summers. So when Harry went to join Ron and Deliverance, he couldn't help but have the same thoughtful expression as Hermione had been wearing constantly.

Instead, he tried his best to pay attention and seem interested in his friend's game, one that couldn't be learned by Ron. The time went by quickly, and a few minutes before the bell rang, the four ran back in to the castle, just barley making it to their next classes.

Hermione went off to Ancient Runes, while Harry, Ron, and Deliverance traveled to Herbology.

Too bad Hermione doesn't have this class with us this year, I'm not getting anything without her, thought Harry as he unearthed his gloves and picked up some sort of plant that looked like spaghetti but would whip viciously at anyone who dared venture forth.

An hour and a half later, the class filed out of the green room, caring for scratches, cuts, and bites, which seemed to slip from the teachers mind.

Some were even complaining that they may have been poisoned, but Deliverance whispered "Babies," under her breath and healed Ron and Harry's wounds with her wand, leaving her own to keep as "Battle scars".


	5. Runspoors

Months had passed in the Hogwarts castle and soon snow began whipping at the rock walls, trying to break in the castle and blow first and second years off their feet as they traveled from class to class outside. Luckily, the only classes the four Gryffindors' had out in the cold were Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures.

The only reason any of them even continued the class with Hagrid was so they wouldn't let him down; this way he would have at least some support when he told the students what they would be taking care of one morning as they stood shivering ankle-deep in snow. "A what!" cried Malfoy in disbelief. "Call 'um Runespoor." Gleamed Hagrid cheerfully as he clasped his hands together. "Th're, well…'ermione, can you say wut they ar'?" asked Hagrid with a little more than a hint of desperation. Apparently he had simply bought the snake-like creatures from someone, illegally perhaps, without bothering to find out anything else about them.

"The Runespoor is a three-headed serpent that commonly reaches a length of six or seven feet. Each head has a different purpose. The left is the planner, deciding what it will do. The middle is a dreamer, often lost in it's thoughts for days at a time, and the last head is the critic, evaluation the other three heads. Because of this position, it is quite common to see a Runespoor without the last head as it may anger the other two who will bite it off." Recited Hermione who was trying her best to sound exactly like a textbook, and doing a pretty good job of it.

"Aw'right, 50 points to Gryffindor. Now, wut we've got 'ere is a couple o' eggs from a sack. We'll be takin' car o' 'em as a…project." And with that Hagrid got the class in to groups of five to each egg. The eggs themselves were of a tan-ish, almost brown like color with a hint of green ducked down beneath the layers of encrusted emerald and auburn swirls.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Deliverance, and a fifth year they didn't know but whose name was Cormell Jackins, were teamed up at a table in the back which was, unfortunately, shared with Malfoy and his gang. "This is pathetic. Wait till my father hears abut this. These things are probably poisonous or vicious or something that will take an arm or a leg," he sneered, but Pansy Parkinson simply brushed some of his sleek blonde hair of his face and squealed "You are so cute when you're angry." This seemed to distract the Slytherin momentarily while the four friends leaned closer to talk in secret, leaving poor Cormell alone with the egg they were supposed to be trying to make a bed for.

The same thought was one each of their minds, but it was Ron who brought it up first. "Do you think they _are _poisonous, vicious, or something that will take an arm or a leg?" he asked, noticibly anxious about Hagrids choice in projects. "I mean, Hagrid has a very…unique taste for creatures. The last ones have kind of been-".

"A complete disaster," finished Harry for him. He could remember all to well the Blast-Ended Skrewts that he had been attacked by in the maze of the Triwizard Tournament, or the Hippogriff that did attack Malfoy in their third year, but wasn't vicious in the least. Thoughts of Buckbeak soon led to thoughts of Harry's godfather, living somewhere far away and hiding from the ministry.

This once again brought up a new question entirely different from the Runespoors, yet somehow oddly connected. Did the trio trust Deliverance enough to tell her about Sirius? They didn't know much about her, so it was difficult to say if she would go running off to Fudge with the information. Naturally, Harry's heart said they should, and yet his mind still wanted to get to know her a little more until he knew it was safe.

After all, it was only a couple weeks into the school year, and they weren't in any type of rush. With reluctance, Harry pulled himself back into the conversation that was happening before him; whether or not Hagrid would be arrested for having these things around. "Oh, I remember reading something once, about them," cried Hermione impatiently as she struggled to figure out what she had read.

"Really?" Ron asked with a sarcastic look of surprise painted on his face, "I couldn't tell. You know that whole thing you said on what Runspoors are; you didn't just make it up off the top of your head?" This received a shot of annoyance look from Hermione, but she continued on thinking as if it hadn't bothered her. Deliverance spook up.

"I hate to say it, but I'm pretty sure they aren't exactly household pets. They might not kill you, but I think you may need a license to handle them safely. Sorry," she added sincerely. "It's all right," sighed Hermione. Her head shrunk in her hands, but not in an act of concentration. Merely in an act of understanding and despair. This wasn't a good sign, for it told the others that what Deliverance said about the Runspoors was right; they were probably not safe to handle, with them being only teenagers. For a couple moments before the bell rangthe four friends simply sat, each thinking about their own problems they had to face.


	6. Stealing Moonlight

((yes, this chapter is extremly short, but it tells a lot))

Ch. 6

She leaned her head back against her pillow and covered her face with her hands, one of which seemed on fire. She removed her hands to look at the small, E shaped tattoo that was glowing a light blue from its usual black.

She groaned and burrowed her head back into the pillow. It was too early to wake up, but Deliverance knew she had to.

Her watch told her that it was about one in the morning and that she had a half an hour until Mrs. Norris started her patrol of the corridors. With a sigh of reluctance, like a child getting out of bed to go to school, Deliverance sat up and kicked the covers off her body.

She was about to swing her legs over the side until she remembered how badly that turned out last time; one of the girls had left her hairbrush on the floor and the bristles in her feet wasn't the best way for Deliverance to wake up.

Instead she quietly and cautiously placed her toes on the cold wood to feel if there was anything there, and when there wasn't she took off as quickly as possible while making the smallest amount of noise.

She was already wearing jeans and a black sweatshirt with the band name Evanescence written across the top; she had no time to lose if she wanted to get this done tonight and couldn't stop to get dressed or hide from any unsuspected teachers.

Once outside the common room, the rest of the trip down to Whomping Willow to meet Sirius in the abandoned house was easy.


End file.
